


Bioluminescence

by SaltinesAndPeanutButter



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: F/F, cw for implied child abuse/csa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26055538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltinesAndPeanutButter/pseuds/SaltinesAndPeanutButter
Summary: When Asuka moves from bustling West Berlin to a tiny Japanese mountain town, she expects her life to change. What she doesn't expect, however, is to meet a girl like Rei.
Relationships: Ayanami Rei/Souryuu Asuka Langley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41
Collections: Femslashgelion 2020





	Bioluminescence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FreezingKaiju](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezingKaiju/gifts).



> My contribution for femslashgelion2020 and a gift for freezing-kaiju on Tumblr! I hope you enjoy, Leanne! 
> 
> Prompt: 1980s horror AU.

A flock of seagulls soared into the sky, jolting Asuka out of her trance. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. Her grip on her black book bag began to slip, and she immediately pulled it up over her right shoulder. It was around 8 AM, and today was August 30th, 1985. For the past few weeks, she had been staying up until 6 AM and waking up around 4 PM. She slept for just shy of three hours last night, and the sun beating down on her face wasn't making the transition to a diurnal life any easier.

When Asuka reached the doors of her school, she checked her watch. She was fifteen minutes early. "Are you in class 1-A?" a friendly voice hollered from the top of the staircase. A brunette girl with freckles and two low pigtails was bent over the railing. "Yeah!" Asuka hollered back. The girl ran quickly down the stairs, skirt and pigtails flowing behind her. "I'm Hikari Horaki, and you?"

"Asuka Langley-Soryu," she answered, suppressing a yawn.

Hikari reached out to shake Asuka's hand, but Asuka kept her hands at her side. Hikari awkwardly looked around for a few seconds, before saying: "I'm sorry...I'm just really excited to be class representative this year, that's all. I'll show you the way to our classroom, ok?" she explained, looking moderately defeated. Asuka nodded, and followed Hikari to the classroom, where only three other people were sitting. One person in particular stood out to Asuka from across the room. She sat in the very last desk in the leftmost row, next to the window. She was reading a book and sat perfectly still. Her hair appeared to be bright white with the beams of sunlight hitting it through the window. "Who's she?" whispered Asuka. "She's Rei Ayanami. She transferred here last year at the beginning of seventh grade. She doesn't talk very much."

Asuka abandoned Hikari at the doorway, and walked over to Rei, worming herself between Rei's desk and the desk in front of her, and stood quiet for a moment waiting on her to notice. In response, Rei merely adjusted her position, scooting closer to the window and remaining fixed on her book. Asuka walked over to the window and stood directly in front of it. She could see Hikari silently shake her head from across the room. Rei made a barely audible closed-mouth sigh, and looked up at Asuka, who was greeted with bright red irises that seemed to glow, somehow. "What're you reading?"

"A book," Rei answered in monotone.

"Well, duh! But what book?"

Rei flipped the book closed to display the cover. It was _Frankenstein_.

"Oh, I’ve heard of that!" Asuka replied with an awkward smile. She could see Rei's fingernails digging into the soft cover of the book and decided to walk away without saying another word.

***

"Asuka, I don't know. She just doesn't seem to want friends, for whatever reason. I tried to make friends with her at the beginning of last year, and I got the same response," Hikari said before stuffing a mochi in her mouth. "So why did you transfer to this school anyway? People have been moving out of this town for the past year or so," she continued.

"My dad got a job offer here. We used to live in West Berlin, but-"

"You moved all the way from West Germany? Wow, that must've been really hard."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "I should actually be going into ninth grade this year, but they're making me do eighth grade _again_ here because of my birthday."

"When's your birthday?"

"December 4th, 1971. They said that the year was the problem. _Shiza_ , if I could only be a year older..." Asuka's eyes caught a glimpse of Rei, who sat alone at her desk, picking at what appeared to be plain white rice. She noticed that Rei's hair was in fact a pastel blue, and not white like she originally thought. "Asuka? Asuka!" Hikari waved her hand in front of Asuka's face. Asuka shook her head, "does she always sit alone at lunch?"

"Yeah. I sat with her for a few days at the beginning of last year, but she always seemed uncomfortable, so I stopped."

Hikari waved her hand in front of Asuka's face again. Asuka blinked and turned her head back around. "I didn't sleep good last night," explained Asuka.

"You're fine. I bet the time zone difference was hard to get used to."

Asuka nodded silently. "So why are people moving out of here?" she asked, changing the subject.

"There's been...reports of supernatural beings. It really has everyone spooked. Nobody goes out after dark anymore. Most businesses aren't open after 7 PM."

"Supernatural beings?"

"Nobody's really seen it, whatever it is," said Hikari. Asuka had heard of tales of Sasquatch and British Big Cats but had never thought about them too seriously.

"But you're not the first one to transfer here within the past few years. See that boy over there?" Hikari asked, pointing to three desks clustered together where the front row would be. "Yeah," said Asuka. "The one with the Walkman? He transferred here last month. Not sure why, though."

"And Rei transferred here too, right?"

"Yep! But I don't know why."

Asuka looked over to Rei again. Her bento box was empty, and she was staring out the window.

***

That afternoon, Rei was the first to leave. As soon as the bell rang, she stuffed her schoolbag with papers and books, and walked out of the room at a brisk pace without looking at anybody. Everyone else was still lingering, talking to friends, or starting on cleaning duty. "Cleaning duty?!" gasped Asuka, who somehow heard Rei's uwabaki slippers screech against the floor over the chatter of her new classmates, and briefly turned her head to catch the tail end of Rei's blue skirt pass the exit. "Yep! As class rep, I clean on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

"Isn't today a Friday?"

"Mhmm. You can walk home by yourself, can't you?"

"Yeah," sighed Asuka. "Well, see you on Monday!" Asuka said before spinning on her heel to leave.

"Wait! Asuka! We have half-days on...Saturdays," Hikari called out, voice tapering as she realized Asuka wasn't turning back around.

Asuka resumed her walk from this morning, and as she turned onto the very last street before the road where her house was, she noticed a familiar blue head of hair a few yards ahead. In the evening sun, her hair almost looked lavender. _Almost_.

Asuka jumped behind a bush, pushing a few branches out of the way to see. She watched Rei make a perfect 90-degree turn before stopping at the gate of a large mansion. Asuka briefly surveyed the area, only to conclude that _every_ house on this street was a large mansion. Rei pushed a button, and Asuka watched as the gates opened, and finally Rei walked through them. Hesitantly, Asuka creeped from behind the bush, brushed a few leaves from her hair, and resumed her walk home. As she turned onto the next street, she realized that none of the other houses had a buzzer attached to the gate.

The next day, Asuka woke up to her stepmom banging on her door. "You have someone on the phone!" she yelled from the hallway. When Asuka got to the kitchen, her stepmom shoved the landline into her hand and retreated to the bedroom she shared with Asuka's dad.

"Hello?"

"Asuka, this is Hikari. You're late to school --"

"What? There's no school. It's Saturday."

"We have half-days on Saturday."

"Ugh!" Asuka yelled before slamming the landline against the receiver.

"Shut up!" her stepmother yelled from the bedroom.

Asuka shucked off her pajamas, put on her school uniform, and ran out the door. She turned the corner off her street, until she noticed that same mansion with the golden gate and the buzzer. She stopped in her stride, surveyed her surroundings, and stopped in front of the gate. She could see her reflection in the bars of the gate and noticed that she forgot to brush her hair. She raked her right hand through it, and looked intently at the buzzer. _I shouldn't be here_ , Asuka thought, and so she began walking away.

Asuka walked into the classroom. Hikari waved at Asuka, and she waved back. Asuka made her way to her seat, in the row next to Hikari's and turned her head to the last seat on the leftmost row, only to find it empty. Asuka sighed, and then caught herself. She gripped the side of her desk, knuckles white, and checked the time on her watch. 12:13 PM.

"Do you not have school on Saturdays in West Germany?" Hikari asked, pulling her bento box out of her book bag.

"Of course not! Saturdays are made for sleeping in," Asuka hissed.

"Then you'll be pleased to know that after lunch on Saturdays we can go home."

"Then what was even the point of me coming?!" Asuka yelled. A few heads turned, but for the most part everyone was so caught up in conversation that Asuka's faux pas went unnoticed.

"Quiet down," Hikari whispered, leaning in.

"Oh, and before I forget," Hikari began rummaging through her book bag. "Here's your cleaning schedule. You have cleaning duty on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Asuka took the paper from Hikari.

"You'll be helping to move and clean the desks."

Asuka hastily folded the paper and stuffed it in the outer pocket of her black schoolbag.

"I know you must be going through culture shock right now."

"You could say that."

"What's been the hardest for you?"

"Aside from all _this_ ," Asuka gestured at everything, "I can't read kanji."

"No way! Your Japanese is too good for you to not know any kanji!"

"Well, my mom used to speak Japanese to me when I was little. She was half-Japanese and half-German, but after--" Asuka caught herself, and so began a familiar ache in her chest. She quickly shook her head back and forth. "I learned it from my mom," she finished.

"I have some kanji flashcards left from when I was in elementary school. You can come to my house and I can help you study if you want?"

"Yeah," Asuka sighed, "if I'm gonna be living here, I gotta learn to read," she grumbled.

Asuka went home with Hikari that afternoon. They walked past the turn Asuka would normally take, onto the street where Rei lives. Asuka stopped in her tracks, forgetting that Hikari was with her, and stared down the street, thinking of the mansion with the polished golden gates and the buzzer.

"Asuka?" Hikari raised her voice, a few steps ahead.

"Sorry," Asuka shook her head.

"Is something wrong?"

"Does she miss school a lot?"

"Who? Rei?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, she's usually not at school on Saturdays. She misses about two days a week. She always has doctor's notes, though, so they're always excused," explained Hikari.

"What kind of medical condition does she have?"

"The notes go to the teacher, not me," Hikari laughed.

"Oh."

"Are you coming?"

"Yeah," answered Asuka.

Hikari led Asuka to her apartment. The walk was long, about twenty minutes. The apartment was clean and smelled faintly of pine.

"We'll be alone until around 5:30. My older sister gets off work at 5 and then picks up my little sister from school," Hikari said.

"Do elementary schools have full days on Saturday or what?"

"No, they have half-days too, but Nozomi stays at school for the full day and Kodama picks her up."

"Ah."

Hikari set down her bag and emerged from her room with a hefty stack of flashcards held together with a rubber band. "Let's get started."

***

The door to Hikari's apartment opened and in came running a girl of about six or seven years, and a woman in her early 20s. "Sorry we're late! Traffic was awful this evening," said the older woman. Asuka looked at her watch. It was 6:45 PM. “Who's your friend?" the older woman asked.

"I'm Asuka. Asuka Langley-Soryu.”

"She moved here from West Berlin!" Hikari explained.

"That's awfully far away. Oh, and I'm Kodama, and she's Nozomi," Kodama said, pointing to Nozomi, who was already sitting at the kitchen table.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" asked Hikari.

"No, I shouldn’t stay out too late."

"I'll walk you home," offered Hikari.

"No, I'm fine," Asuka stood up, adjusting her skirt.

"At least take a flashlight," Kodama said, handing a black industrial sized flashlight to Asuka.

"Well, see you at school on Monday!"

Asuka left the apartment and clicked on the flashlight. Although it was getting dark, she didn't notice any of the supernatural creatures Hikari had spoken of at lunch yesterday. She managed to walk past the mansion where Rei lived without stopping and staring. Asuka found herself hoping she'd see Rei on Monday, but she quickly banished that thought from her head and focused on the weight of the flashlight in her hand instead. As she walked onto her driveway, she noticed something glowing from behind the fence. Curious, Asuka ran to her backyard through the tall, untrimmed grass, dropped her black book bag into the grass, and gripped the top of the wooden fence, hoisting herself up. Behind the fence laid a seemingly endless swath of forest, layers upon layers of dark green obscuring the source of the light. Against her better judgement, Asuka climbed the fence, landing on her feet on the other side, brown shoes sinking into the moist earth. She pointed her flashlight into the woods and began to walk. After several minutes, Asuka began to feel overheated, her bangs adhered to her forehead with sweat. _Shiza_ , she thought as she hopped over a fallen limb, wet bangs providing a constant source of annoyance. She looked up from the ground and found that she was only mere feet away from the light source. She clicked off the flashlight; there was no need for it now. A glowing orb floated in midair. A pair of pale hands, so pale they themselves seemed to glow, reached out and gripped it. Seconds later, the orb busted, spraying warmth in every direction. Asuka held her breath, overwhelmed by the heat. She clicked on the flashlight again, only to find the girl she had been hoping to see all day.

"Rei?!" Asuka yelled.

"Yes?"

Asuka noticed that she was barefoot and wearing a long dark blue shirt that hit her right above her knees.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Asuka questioned, walking closer and closer to Rei, and pointed the flashlight directly in Rei's face. She recoiled and flinched; the most emotion Asuka had seen the girl display. Feeling guilty, Asuka moved the flashlight away from her eyes, and instead pointed it at her abdomen.

"I come here almost every night," she answered in monotone.

Asuka's face grew warm. She noticed the periwinkle shade of Rei's hair, and the gentle presence of the color in her eyebrows and eyelashes. She noticed the veins on Rei's eyelids as she blinked, deep, muted blues and purples. Rei was staring straight at Asuka, yet she wasn't making eye contact. Asuka's eyes fell on Rei's for a moment, and feeling intimidated, she quickly darted them away.

"You're really pretty," Asuka whispered, and covered her mouth with her hand as soon as she realized what she'd just said.

"Ok," Rei deadpanned, "I don't believe I've heard that before."

"Just -- just forget I said that!" Asuka yelled.

"Ok."

Another glowing orb appeared. Nonchalantly, Rei walked over to it and clasped it between her hands and let it pop. Asuka was hit with another wave of heat, much like opening an oven.

"Wh- what are these things?!"

"I don't know."

"Then why are you touching them?!"

"They call to me."

"They _call to you_?!?! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Rei turned around. "I feel...compelled to interact with them."

Asuka sighed and shook her head. "Where do you live?" she asked because she felt like she didn't want to leave.

"Behind these woods."

"How long do you usually stay out here?"

"Until my hands start stinging."

Asuka glanced down at Rei's hands, resting at her sides. Her palms were bright red, fading to pink around the edges. Her inner wrists were decorated with sprawling blue and purple veins, not unlike her eyelids.

"Well, I'm going home _now_ ," Asuka said, and turned on her heel. After she hopped over the same branch as before, she turned around. Rei was still catching orbs in her palms and letting them pop.

***

The next two days were uneventful. It rained on Sunday, and Rei was absent on Monday. On Tuesday, however, Rei showed up at school, and handed the teacher two slips of paper before taking her seat. She sat alone at lunch that day, as she always did. When the bell rang, Hikari and Asuka exchanged their goodbyes and Hikari reminded Asuka that she had cleaning duty today. "Dammit!" cursed Asuka under her breath, clenching her hands. She surveyed the room looking for rags to wipe down the desks and chairs, and found Rei picking up a bucket from the cabinet at the back of the room. She quickly walked out of the classroom, and before Asuka could consciously notice what she was doing, she found herself running after Rei. "Hey! Wait up!" she yelled in the hallway. Rei didn't turn around. "Hey!" she hollered again. "REI!"

Rei turned around. "Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

"Outside."

"What for?"

"To fill the bucket with water."

"I'll come with you!" Asuka ran to Rei's side. Rei looked straight ahead the whole way to the faucet outside, and continued to give curt, mostly one word replies to anything Asuka said. They began working on wiping down the desks and chairs. By the time they were only halfway done, everyone else had left. "Man, is everyone here a slacker or what?" Asuka griped, noticing the remaining clutter around the classroom. Rei said nothing in response. Asuka noticed how Rei seemed to glow in the evening light, and tried not to blush, though her body had other plans. Thankfully, Rei seemed not to notice. _Why did I have to get a crush on the most emotionally unavailable person in class?_ Asuka lamented in her head.

"So, before I came here did you do this job all by yourself?"

"Yes," Rei confirmed, ringing out her rag into the bucket.

"It must've taken you a long time."

"Yes."

Asuka said nothing for a minute, unsure of what to say.

"Why are you so quiet?" she asked.

"I have no desire to fill the air with my breath unless absolutely necessary."

Asuka noticed that the sun was beginning to set; it was already halfway behind the mountains on the outskirts of town.

"The sun's setting. Maybe we should just call it an evening," suggested Asuka.

"But we're not done."

"The desks will be _fine_ , Rei."

"I...suppose we can go home," Rei conceded, staring at the rag in her hands. The girls dropped their rags in the hamper in the supply closet and dumped the water out in the bathroom.

"So..." Asuka began after several minutes of silence on the walk home, "where do you live?" she asked as if she didn’t already ask that on Saturday evening and didn't already know and hadn't already committed it to memory.

"The third house on this street."

"Oh! That's a nice house. I live on the street after this one."

Rei said nothing back. The air was filled only with the sounds of the girls' shoes hitting the concrete, and the cicadas whose symphony never stopped.

"Will you be in the woods again tonight?"

"Most likely."

"...Can I meet you there?"

At this point the girls were merely footsteps away from the buzzer. Rei glanced at Asuka from the corner of her eyes but didn't move her head. She pressed the buzzer. "Mr. Ikari, I'm home," she said.

"Welcome home, Rei," a deep, older sounding voice responded through the speaker.

The gates opened and Asuka watched Rei walk inside. She circled around to the back of the mansion instead of entering through the front door. Asuka thought she saw Rei's head droop as she walked in.

Asuka rushed home, changed clothes, and scurried out of the house, into the backyard, and over the fence. Sure enough, there was a very bright light shining through the trees. Asuka ran as fast as she could to the spot where she met Rei last night, only to find at least a dozen orbs floating. Asuka walked up to one and took it in her hands, just like she had seen Rei do last night. She immediately ripped her hands away, however, shaking them violently because the orb was _scalding_ hot. Asuka sat on the grass, flashlight in hand, and waited.

Two and a half hours later, Rei appeared. This time she wore her school uniform, but she was still barefoot. Asuka pointed her flashlight at Rei's stomach, remembering how sensitive her eyes were last night. This time, her face appeared red and splotchy. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Rei was _crying_. The rest of her face remained unmoved. Asuka bolted over to Rei, leaving the flashlight behind.

"What's wrong?" Asuka said, crouching down ever-so-slightly so that she was at Rei's eye level. She put her hands on Rei's shoulders. "Rei? Talk to me, please!" However, the other girl remained silent.

"If...if he finds out I'm here, the consequences will be dire," Rei explained, her voice even more hoarse and raspy than usual.

"'He?' Who's 'he?'" Asuka's grip on Rei's shoulder's tightened.

"Mr. Ikari," Rei answered, choking back tears.

"Who's that?" Asuka fought the urge to wipe the tears from Rei's face.

"My legal guardian."

"You mean your dad?"

"I don't know."

"Rei, please, tell me what happened!" begged Asuka.

"I'm not supposed to bond with others."

"What?"

"That is not my assigned purpose. My purpose is to obey Mr. Ikari."

"Huh? What about when you turn 18?"

"I don't expect to make it that long."

"What?! Rei...what's going on?"

"I'm forbidden from saying so."

Asuka wrapped her arms around Rei, pulling her in close; her head resting in the crook of Asuka's neck. She felt Rei's tears fall onto her skin and soak into her shirt.

Dozens of glowing spheres were now orbiting the two girls. "Rei? Is this...normal?" whispered Asuka. Rei looked up, observing the orbs for a few seconds. "Yes. They behave this way when I'm upset."

 _What the fuck_ , Asuka thought to herself. "If you calm down, do they go away?"

"Yes."

"What can I do to help you calm down?"

"I don't know."

"Wait," Asuka let go of Rei. "I have an idea!" she ran back to where she was sitting before and picked up the flashlight. She ran back over to Rei and whacked one of the orbs as hard as she could with the flashlight. It popped, sending a wave of heat around it exactly like the two orbs from last night. Asuka smiled, and looked over to Rei, who wasn't crying anymore, yet wasn't smiling, either. Asuka ran around frantically whacking each and every orb she saw until they were all popped. She was gasping for air, but it was worth it.

"I...I have to go now," Rei said before walking away into the dark of the forest.

"Wait! Can we meet again tomorrow?"

Rei gave no reply, and only stood still with her back turned for a couple of minutes. "Yes."

Asuka couldn't see it, but Rei smiled in the dark.

***

The next day, Rei was absent from school, and all Asuka could do was wonder if she was alright. If her eyes weren't on her wristwatch, they were on the clock mounted to the wall, and if her eyes weren't on the clock mounted on the wall, they were on her wristwatch.

Asuka didn't bother telling Hikari goodbye when the bell rang. Instead, she ran as fast as she could to her house, where she changed out of her school uniform and bolted to the middle of the woods, where she waited for hours until after dark.

The orbs appeared at dusk, one by one. Eventually, Rei emerged from the darkness as well. The girls popped every single one. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Where would we go?" Rei asked.

"C'mon, I know there's gotta be at least one 24-hour convenience store in this town!" Asuka took Rei's hand in her own. "Are you coming?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes."

Asuka didn't let go of Rei's hand until they were both in the convenience store's parking lot. Asuka heard Rei let out a barely audible sigh. "What is it?"

"There's one here with us right now."

Asuka turned her head and was greeted with a single glowing orb. A woman who looked to be in her early 30s was walking to her car. Suddenly, she picked up her pace, accelerating until she was sprinting in her high heels, clacking incessantly against the concrete. "What was that about?" Asuka wondered aloud before whacking the orb with her flashlight. Asuka sat down just outside the door, and Rei followed suit. They sat in silence, watching bugs buzz around the neon signage and listening to the cicadas. Rei rested her head on Asuka's shoulder. Asuka didn't know it, but Rei loved the red ribbons Asuka wore in her hair, the shine of her hair, and her loud, clear voice.

The clerk pushed the door open, the dainty ring of the doorbell startling the girls. "If you're not going to purchase anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Rei," she said, taking Rei's hand again.

Asuka walked Rei home in the dark, without the help of the flashlight, and dropped her off in the middle of the woods.

Rei let go.

"Will I see you again tomorrow?" asked Asuka.

"Yes," answered Rei.

***

The arrangement continued for several weeks. The air became cooler, and every day Asuka wore her red, thick coat on the walk to and from school. She began wearing stockings instead of knee socks, and soon the school would require everyone to swap to their winter uniforms. Despite their almost nightly meetings, Rei never approached Asuka at school, and vice versa, unless it was during after school cleaning duty. Rei just seemed like she didn't want to be bothered during class, for whatever reason. However, Asuka had caught Rei looking at her from across the room a handful of times, and each time their gazes met, Rei's cheeks quickly turned a subtle shade of pink, so subtle that Asuka thought she was the only one who had ever looked at Rei close enough to notice.

Today was a Friday. Asuka walked Rei home, holding her hand the whole way. They let go of each other halfway between the turn onto her street and the golden gates. Rei pressed the buzzer, told Mr. Ikari she was home, and he let her inside. After a few minutes of waiting, Asuka walked past the same golden gates, fighting the urge to climb them and bust down the door of that mansion.

After the sun set, Asuka bundled up. She slipped on thick stockings, mittens, a scarf, and her red coat before heading out into the woods. She waited for several hours. She pulled up the sleeve of her coat and peeked at her watch. It was 11:35 PM. Reluctantly, Asuka got up and turned around. She knew she was going to get frost bite standing out here.

"ASUKA!" Rei screamed, her voice hoarse as ever, fading out rapidly on the last syllable.

Rei emerged from the darkness; her hair disheveled. Asuka's eyes widened. She was horrified to see that Rei was wearing only the blouse from her school uniform, her underwear, and _nothing else_. Asuka shucked off her coat, scarf, and mittens and dressed Rei, who was crying and hyperventilating loudly whilst clinging to Asuka with a death grip. Her tears soaked the front of Asuka's shirt. "What did he do?" Asuka asked sternly. "What did he do?" she asked a second time.

"I can't say," Rei choked out, "but I know he will dispose of me soon,” she revealed. Asuka hugged Rei close for a few minutes, not noticing the dozens upon dozens of orbs that were circling around the them. Asuka noticed a pair of cracked glasses resting on the collar of Rei's shirt. A man's voice could be heard yelling for Rei.

"Let's go."

"What? Why?"

"You can't stay here -- _we_ can't stay here."

Rei nodded. Somehow, she felt... _safe_ with Asuka, and trusted Asuka’s judgment more than her own.

Asuka snuck Rei into her room, where she loaned Rei an outfit, and made her a mug of hot chocolate. Rei was sitting in between Asuka's legs, her back to Asuka's stomach in her bed. "What am I going to do?" Rei croaked.

An idea entered Asuka's head, so outlandish it just might work. "Come with me to West Berlin."

"I don't know German."

"I'll teach you," Asuka rested her chin on the top of Rei's head.

"Alright," Rei whispered.

Asuka packed them each a bag while Rei rested in Asuka's bed. Now it was almost 2 AM. "Let's go."

They walked to the bus station, boarding one that would take them to the airport, where they would then board a flight to West Berlin. They were the only two on the bus, and they stood on their knees on the seats, heads stuck out the window, cold winter air nipping at their noses and lips, watching the orbs being left behind. Rei pulled the cracked glasses from her pocket, and held them for a minute, twisting them in her grasp, the glass threatening to fall out. Without warning, she let go. The glasses hit the pavement with a loud _crack_.

Early that same morning, before the sun rose, the orbs found themselves at Mr. Ikari's mansion. They crowded around the house until the heat set the structure ablaze.


End file.
